With the way the first inning went, it appeared that the Pittsburgh Pirates consecutive quality start streak would come to an end.
After a scoreless top half, the Colorado Rockies didn’t wait around long with Kris Bryant hitting a one-out home run off of Pirates starter Vince Velasquez to give the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. After the second out, the Rockies then strung together three consecutive hits for two more runs, capped off with a former Bucco Elias Diaz run scoring double to make it 3-0.
Velasquez really settled in after that, allowing only one more hit and three walks over the next five innings. He wasn’t exactly filling up the strike zone — 57 of 95 pitches for strikes (60%) — per se, but he sat down seven hitters by strike out. He also did a strong job of keeping the ball on the ground, with six groundouts to four flyouts.
After all was said and done with Velasquez, he had left the game with a lead in hand, thanks to the man of the hour and of the series.
The day after hitting a pinch hit home run, Jack Suwinski proceeded to hit a home run in each of his first two at bats Tuesday. He got things going in the top of the second with a 364 foot solo shot. In the fourth inning, Connor Joe and Carlos Santana kept their strong starts to the season going by hitting back-to-back doubles to start the inning, with Santana’s scoring Joe. Then Jack stepped to the plate, and for the third consecutive at bat — going back to Monday — he got ahold of a first pitch fastball and sent it 434 feet for a two-run home run and 4-3 lead.
Wanting to get in on the fun, recent call-up Tucupita Marcano leaned into one and hit a 385 foot triple. He’d then score on a wild pitch to give the Pirates a 5-3 lead.
Duane Underwood Jr. and Robert Stephenson each pitched an inning, and held the Rockies scoreless while giving up two hits and registering a strike out each. Stephenson had runners on the corners with no outs, and then sat down the next three batters.
In the ninth, David Bednar is thanking his lucky stars that he’s a thicc yinzer with a love of IC Light. First batter of the inning Jurickson Profar hit a liner at 103 MPH right at Bednar that hit him in the butt cheek. He managed to recover, grabbed the ball, and toss it to Joe at first base just in time to get the out. Bednar remained in the game, getting the final two outs, finishing it off with a strike out of CJ Cron.
The Pirates won 5-3 and sealed a series victory in Colorado. They’ll play the third of three games Wednesday afternoon before returning home to take on the Cincinnati Reds.
